The Obama Infomercial

When I heard that the Obama campaign was buying up half hour spots on the network I thought it would come off presumptous and have the possibility of turning people off.

After watching it, I think the tone was dead on and once again the Obama took advantage of the opportunity they had.

If you missed it you can watch it on the video above.

It was an entirely positive ad that barely mentioned John McCain or Sarah Palin and reinforced his key economic messages to insulate against the attacks of socialist, communist, and redistributionist.

And as we have seen in the debates, positive wins, and focus on the middle class, is where the votes are.

As Sarah Palin often says at her events, its a chance to talk to people 'without the filter of the media.'

This campaign has become the model campaign of our time and this ad and bold move,,, adds to the lore of the campaign that they have run.

17People Voted

One hour and fifty five minutes.

Approximately 150 people in line as the day ended.

The two people who worked the polls said it was non stop all day, with possibly 2000+ people having voted at that location.

And they told me that the two other locations nearest them were sending people over to them.

And this was early voting.

It was an amazing experience and judging by the political pins on bags and the conversations I heard,, I'd say 80%+ were voting for Obama.

Now I live in Illinois, but I talked to an 85 year old African American woman after she voted whom I walked to her daughters car who had tears in her eyes. Who sat for nearly two hours.

ME: You ok ma'am
HER: I never thought I'd live to vote for an African American for President

It was a pretty amazing experience to hear. This woman had lived through times when what she did today,,, seemed like an impossibility. We didn't talk a lot, but there are few moments I will never forget in my life and that will be one of them.

I live in Illinois and many may say that 'our votes don't count' because Barack is going to win Illinois by 20+ points. Let me say this,,, from everyone I have talked to about early voting, this state is not acting like our votes don't count.

Above all, I was proud to vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden to be our President and Vice President. Also very proud to vote for our wonderful Senator Dick Durbin for another term.

Now I can use my free time between now and the election to do what I can to help deliver a win.

Something Doesn't Add Up...

So in case you haven't been following....

Their has been unprecedented finger pointing, blame, and name calling going on in the McCain campaign.

This is surprising to me as Republicans are usually the disciplined party. Yet in this campaign,, they have been tearing each other apart in the past week.

Sarah Palin has been taking a beating lately,, and not from Democrats. Instead from 'Senior McCain Aides.'

In the past 4 days they have leaked to the media...

• $150,000 was spent on her wardrobe
• They have said that she has 'gone rogue'
• That she is a 'diva'
• And today she was called a 'whack job'

While I think there are serious schisms between the McCain and Palin camps something doesn't add up. Even with hard feelings about the direction of the campaign, this is beyond unprofessional, it is bizarre.

There are many reasons for this but I think it is one of two things.

One, this infighting could mean that their internal numbers are worse than the public poll numbers and they know the race is over and want to get the first shots of blame off.

But I'm not sure I buy that. I know a lot of campaign people, and giving up is not most campaign staffers makeup. You don't dedicate yourself for months and in some cases years, to spend the last week torpedoing your own campaign.

So here is where my paranoia kicks in.....

Are all these leaks the last tactic or 'hail mary' that the McCain team is trying?

Could it be possible they are trying to use the media to exploit these stories and hope that the coverage will be viewed as sexist or unfair towards Sarah Palin.

To attempt to turn Sarah Palin into a sympathetic figure or a victim?

To try and use that perception that to swing women voters back in their direction?

While this sounds and probably is crazy, its one of the ways that Hillary made a big comeback against Obama.

Remember the New Hampshire debate in the primaries. Obama was up 15points over Hillary Clinton when he uttered the ill-timed and delivered 'your likeable enough' line. It cost him New Hampshire and a lot of women turned on him through the rest of the primaries.

The difference is this Obama is different.

He learned his lesson running against Hillary Clinton though and despite Sarah Palin presenting opportunity after opportunity to attack her... he hasn't taken the bait.

Either way, whether it's true dislike between the two or a conspiracy theory contrived by me,, this is the oddest conclusion to a campaign.

Imagine if they win,,, how do you work together when your staffs have been destroying each other?

Get Involved in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District?

One of the hardest things for me in the writing of this blog is getting to everything that I want to write.

There are many issues, people, and campaigns I wish I had the time to write about and get statements on the record. But since no group or company has bought ads for me through Google Sense I am confined to writing in my free time and many articles get left half completed or never even started.

In the year or so of 17people, there is one article that I began writing a couple months ago that had I finished I would have looked prophetic. The article was about a one term Congresswoman from Minnesota named Michelle Bachman.

A fellow blogger and individual I am so fortunate has become a dear friend of mine over the last year wrote me over two months ago about Bachman and said I should research and write about her.

If only I had, because I would have been way ahead of the political shit storm that Bachman engulfed herself in last week.

It was last week when Bachman went on Hardball and invoked Joe McCarthy-like statements that created a feverish national stir. Bachman’s statements were cited by Colin Powell the weekend he endorsed Barack Obama and were echoed by former Republican Governor of Minnesota Arne Carlson who said her statement helped push him to endorse Obama as well.

For the past couple months I have been occasionally looking into history of Bachman but the Presidential campaign and financial crisis kept pushing the 17people expose on her back. After last week many sites have done in depth expose’s on her which are far more in-depth than I could write.

The biggest problem for me in writing about Bachman involved deciding which of her ignorant statements over the years was actually worth writing here. This is the person who said a pipeline in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge would ‘warm the ground’ for the Caribou. That ‘warm the ground’ statement while exposing her ignorance is better than the many statements she has made which I view as divisive and hateful.

Instead of finishing this piece with a string of Bachman statements that irritate me and mocking and demeaning her as many would expect from me I will take a different path., the path I like to call the Obama path. Instead of getting in the dirt an nastiness and making myself feel good by beating up on Bachman, I will instead keep my temper and worse instincts in check.

Instead 17people will hit Bachman where it hurts, by encouraging readers of this blog to take a role in defeating her at the ballot box. The great thing about the US House of Representatives is we can vote out any of them, every two years.

Last week’s McCarthy statements have done more damage than the endorsements of Powell and Carlson for Obama, they have put her job in jeopardy.

In fact her statements so outraged the public that her opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg,,, that’s right Elwyn Tinklenberg has raised over $1million AND the National Republican Congressional Committee has pulled their support for her campaign.

I strongly encourage you, as I have to give what you can, $5, $10, or more if you can to help defeat Michelle Bachman. Even if you are not from Minnesota, you can make a difference and if you are from Minnesota,,, GET INVOLVED FOR ELWYN!!!!

To contribute to Elwyn Tinklenberg click on this link.

Alaskan Obama Endorsement?

And the hits just keep on coming.

The latest surprise endorsement for Barack Obama to go along with the avalanche of Conservatives from Colin Powell, William Weld, Arne Coleman, Christopher Buckley, Larry Pressler, Ken Adelman, Scott McClellan, Christopher Hitchens comes the the Anchorage Daily News.

Now I am not sure whether the Anchorage Daily News is a 'liberal' newspaper, but it is the Anchorage Daily News from Alaska.

I just learned that this newspaper, which is the biggest in Alaska endorsed Senator Barack Obama despite the fact that their own Governor was chosen as Vice President for John McCain.

Read the Obama endorsement here.

17People Scolding Democrats

I received a scathing email the other day from a conservative who said I am hypocritical for not having commented on recent gaffes made by Democrats when I have been subliminally skewering Republicans like Michelle Bachman, Robin Hayes, and Sarah Palin. In all honesty the email was phrased much nastier but this is family blog so I will avoid a direct transcription.

While I am a fierce partisan I think this blog has a pretty stellar track record of criticizing Democrats and to show my independence will address the statements of Joe Biden, John Murtha, and John Kerry.

BIDEN:

So Joe Biden said that they world will 'test' Obama in the first six months of his Presidency. My love for Joe Biden is pretty well stated on this blog and I know he will be a great VP.

Yet my man Joe has a propensity to say some things in ways I wish he wouldn't. He tends to make certain statements more dramatic than they need to be and this one falls in that category.

It's pretty clear to all voters that whomever the next President is will have serious tests already. The state the country is in right now is going to be a serious test and as we learned with the financial crisis,,, a 'test' can come at anytime.

MURTHA:

Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha made a stupid comment about being Western Pennsylvania voters not voting for Obama because the area is racist.

There is something wrong with John Murtha, he is a bigger gaffe machine than Joe Biden is and quite honestly have gotten tired of him for quite some time. A couple years back I respected him for being a strong Democratic anti-war voice when it wasn't popular.

But since that point every time Murtha has been on TV I have held my breath hoping that he wouldn't screw up and 50% of the time it seems like he does. Murtha is now in trouble in his district which was a very safe seat up only 5 points in the last poll.

If Murtha loses he brought it on himself and I wouldn't miss him and his bloviating.

I won't make any excuses for Murtha, but the difference between his statement and that of Bachman and Hayes is that he at least was talking about his own area, his own home. He didn't say the whole country was racist, or that conservatives hated all people who work hard and believe in God.

Sometimes not painting with a broad brush is better than labeling groups of people.

KERRY

Even Republican readers of this blog know that I have been consistent in my blasting of 2004 Democratic Nominee John Kerry and as a result I am not shocked that he has rendered himself an embarrassment once again.

Kerry made an off color joke about the famous 'boxers of briefs' question that was first asked to Bill Clinton I believe on MTV in 1992. Kerry's initial answer was actually kind of funny when he said he considered answering the question 'commando'.

But then as John Kerry is prone to do,,, he just dug himself a hole and that McCain said 'depends'. Kerry's response as to why he said what he did was pretty painful. Jon Stewart had a much funnier take on it last night in part of what he called 'Gaffe-In' . The Kerry part starts around the 3:28 part of the video.

With any luck John Kerry can go help Barack by doing what he did after his infamous busted 'stuck in Iraq' joke before the 2006 mid-term election. What he did that helped after miserably failing to deliver that joke was go back to Massachusetts and not talk anymore.

The Iraq joke was something the Republicans tried to use against the Democrats, the Result was that the Dems took control of the Senate and the House. So maybe a bad John Kerry joke in 2008 followed by his hiding from public life,,, will lead to massive Democratic victory's in 2008.

So please Senator Kerry, just go away.

Poll Of The Day

Multiple times I have written that I do not care about national polls and care most about state polls. So this morning I was reviewing the polls of the day at my favorite site for non-partisan information, RealClearPolitics.com.

I like to look at the daily polls which come from the various states which I view as a better view of how things work than national polls.

While I rarely see a number that I feel deserves its own blog,,, this one does.

The latest poll in Alaska shows Obama down 11 points. Now double digits and being over 50% is a big lead and a solid state for the Republicans.

However,, this is the home state of the 'most popular Governor in the country' who just happens to be,,,, on the Republican ticket and the worse news for Governor Palin is that the numbers which you can see below show that there is a trend towards Obama in Alaska. A gain for Obama-Biden of six points in the last two weeks.

8/30-9/2
McCain Palin 54

Obama-Biden 35

10/3-6
McCain Palin 55
Obama-Biden 38

10/17-19
McCain Palin 53
Obama-Biden 42

Check the numbers for yourself in this Anchorage Press Article.

Additionally, the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll said that "now, Palin’s qualifications to be president rank as voters’ top concern about McCain’s candidacy".

So Palin is a major concern of the voters nationally, has higher negatives than positives with a W-like 47-38 against, and is seeing her own state's polls tighten.

Is the Palin pick starting to look like a bit of a liability?

In the words of Sarah Palin...

You Betcha!

Urbanathlon and 'My America'

This post has been in the hopper since Saturday, but needless to say it has grown in meaning to me as some in this country have said some things that have stirred some feelings within me.

The picture above is of an eight foot wall I had to climb over at the 10.5 mile mark of Men's Health Urbanathlon this past Saturday. It was the latest goal that I set for myself in a year of a commitment to taking care of myself and getting into shape.

I wrote earlier this year about the 'Biggest Loser' competition I was in with some friends of mine. Since that time I have embarked on a mission that in many cases is harder than losing weight and getting in shape,, which is maintaining that condition and weight.

So about two months ago I decided to run in and start training for Urbanathlon, a unique race that requires both endurance and strength. The race was 10.5 miles and had multiple tough obstacles at various points throughout the course.

Running the bleachers at Soldiers Field, monkey bars, and the 8 foot wall were just a couple of the obstacles that were involved. (Click on this link to see the course)

I trained hard for this race and it payed off. I ran around 8minute miles, never had to walk, and navigated many of the obstacles with ease due to smart and tireless training. I set a time goal to finish the race and the obstacles (which didn't count in the 10.5miles) in under 100minutes which I am proud to say I did.

I was ready for what was in front of me but when I got to the Marine Hurdles I hit a snag.

These 5 foot tall wooden hurdles proved to be tougher than I expected and even though I had increased my strength and fitness I just couldn't jump high enough to get my body in position to get over the hurdle. The hurdles were on the 31st Street Beach and the sand further limited my already unimpressive vertical jump.

10, 11, 15 times I tried to jump and hold myself on the hurdle (my arms have the bruises to show it) and I was wondering how I would get over those damn things.

"Hey buddy, I'll give you a boost," a voice shouted out.

I had watched many people get a boost over the hurdles as many people could not get over on their own, but the 'boosters' were usually people that couldn't get over the hurdles themselves. It was a bit of a quid pro quo.

The cuts and bruises on my arms caused me to accept this guys offer of help and I got over the 1st of the three hurdles. He then helped three other people with boost's over that 1st hurdle.

I went to the second hurdle and thought I'd be able to get over this one to and as I threw myself up and held onto the top of the hurdle with all my strength,,,, I yet again fell to the sand in failure.

"Wait, I'll help you!" the same guy said as he flung himself over the 1st hurdle with no help.

At this point, I checked my pride at the door and helped the other struggling people over the hurdles as the random guy helped me and accepted his offer of help for the 2nd and 3rd hurdles as well.

I never caught the guys name or saw him again, but I remember thinking it was really nice of him to help me and the others.

It was especially selfless since he obviously didn't need any help getting over the hurdles himself, but he took the time to help others instead of being self absorbed with his 'personal time' for the race.

Up until that point in the race I couldn't say the same thing about myself.

After the hurdles there was about 4 miles and two tough obstacles left in the race including the 8 foot wall in the picture above at the very end of the race.

So as I picked up my pace and hurdled myself over the Taxi Hurdle (yes, an actual taxi hurdle) I only had the wall left to negotiate. This was where all the pull-ups from the last two months would pay off. But before I made my leap toward the wall I saw someone on the wall struggling to hold onto the wall. I ran up and gave the lady bit of a push,, she got herself over the wall and over her shoulder shouted a quick 'thanks'.

I never saw her after that but I can say that I still had to get myself over the wall.

So I jumped into the wall grabbed the rope and got one hand on top of the wall. I started to pull myself up and then all of a sudden I had someone give me a boost. I didn't ask for it, but as I got myself over the wall a bit quicker and easier, I wasn't upset by it.

So twice during this race which I had trained so hard for,, a good Samaritan gave me a 'hand up' and helped me accomplish my goal.

So what has 'grown in meaning to me' as I mentioned in the opening line of this blog?

This race was in "Chicago", the home of the maligned "Chicago Political Machine" by the RNC, my guess is Chicago falls outside the 'Real America' based on the comments of Sarah Palin, is probably 'Un-American' as Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann said, and may be even worse if it is considered 'liberal' like Congressman Robin Hayes of North Carolina said in introducing Palin the other day.

I strongly urge you to click the links in this paragraph if you haven't already.

First off, I love my 'big' city of Chicago so are they trying to make me ashamed of where I live?

It's a beautiful place that has many good people. The help that the two people gave me during the race confirmed that to me yet again. Chicago has amazing culture, architecture, history, and I know there are many hard working loyal people here.

According to the statements and views by the Republicans above * should I assume the people that were 'Good Samaritans' that helped me in my race were from 'small towns' because Chicagoans are incapable of charity?

The statements of Palin, Bachmann, and Hayes are heinous and divisive statements that are the worst of what our country stands for. They go to the comments made by Colin Powell who called out Bachmann and the Republicans for going 'beyond political fighting back and forth' and dividing us.

The ultra divisive language that has been used against 'big city's' seems to have taken the place of usual 'radical right' targets like gays and people that are against guns.

What are those that are pushing this agenda trying to achieve?

I know that some people will criticize me for turning a story about a race into a sermon that is clearly partisan politics.

Yet the run reminded me how great a city I live in and I won't let my city be discarded as 'Un-American' because of our size.

I hope people have the same pride in their city's that I do, whether it is big or small.

The most often used line by Presidents after they are elected is 'there is more that unites us than divides us.' I believe this line is true and that above our personal localities, we are all proud Americans.

Colin Powell: 17People Reader?

If you missed the strong and eloquent endorsement of that Colin Powell gave on Meet The Press this weekend in favor of Barack Obama you will see yet another example of an intellectual and thoughtful Republican who has tired of the tone, tactics, and rhetoric of the McCain-Palin ticket.

The video of the endorsement part of his speech is below and I hope that my Republican friends who have been angered by what I have written about my disappointment in the path the McCain campaign has taken.

The fact of the matter is that Powell, while not seething partisanship, as I have a tendency to do, took apart piece by piece the McCain campaign. It was a measured, yet if you listen to it, a devastating attack on every aspect of the McCain campaign for the past couple months.

I often wrote during the debates,,, 'it's not just what you say, but how you say it, and equally as important,, how you look when you say it.'

Powell, like Obama in the debates never got angry or heated, but in his endorsement he hammered away harder than anything Obama said during any of the debates.

• He blasted as hard as anyone on the qualifications on Sarah Palin to assume the Presidency and more importantly said what her selection says about John McCain's judgement.
• He spelled out clearly the fact the the leadership that Obama has shown during the campaign is the kind of cool and steady leadership that we need as opposed to the not so steady reactions of John McCain.
• Better than most he tackled the Bill Ayers attacks as what they are,,, 'narrow'

This endorsement has been labeled by some as not a surprise. Rush Limbaugh has even tried to invoke race into it by implying that Powell endorsed Obama because of race.

I urge you to listen to Powell in the video below.

He has been friends with McCain for 25 years and even contributed to him in the primary. What gets me the most though is not that he endorsed Obama, but the strength with which he did so. He didn't jut endorse Obama, he destroyed McCain and the path of the Republican party.

But I have to wonder if Colin Powell reads this blog. Many of his attacks on Republicans and disappointment with McCain were taken straight from these pages and one in particular hit me.

On Tuesday October 14 I wrote that I wish Obama handled the 'are you a Muslim question' stronger. And in fact gave him a line to use.

"I'm not Arab. But so what if I was?"

Go to the 4:30 mark of the video below and listen to what Powell says after he says 'The really right answer is..."

And then listen to what he says after about a soldier that he read an article about. It's moving and it's powerful,, period.

The Road Back to Likeability?

There is no question that I have been very hard on John McCain in the past couple months.

The rhetoric and tactics of the McCain campaign have pissed more than most Republicans of recent vintage,, like George Bush.

I expected dirty politics from Rove, Cheney, and Bush.

Why McCain's campaign tactics bother me so much is that for years I admired John McCain. Not just for his distinguished service in defending our country, but also for the way he has carried himself as a Senator.

He ran a great campaign for President in 2000, and above all he has been a likeable person. Whether on shows like Letterman, Chris Matthews, or Meet The Press with Tim Russert, I always felt like I believed what he was saying. For much of the past eight years he was a rarity amongst politicians.

The John McCain of this campaign abandoned that mentality in this general election.

He has allowed himself to be 'handled'. There's an old line in campaigns that was most famously used by the Reagan campaigns. "Let Reagan be Reagan" they would say when Reagan had problems.

This strategy was not used by Team McCain in the past 5 months. McCain has been micro-managed and the result has been a candidate who has not been true to his own personality and it has showed throughout the campaign.

But just maybe things are changing after the debate the other night. I think the polls and reactions to all three debates may have finally shown John McCain that he has to be himself the last three weeks of this campaign. That he can't listen to the same people that were puppeteers to President Bush in his two victories.

I also have to say that not taking the bait and invoking Jeremiah Wright after he said he wouldn't has been something admirable. The uncomfortableness of the way he handled the Ayers thing showed me he wasn't buying into what the Hannity's of the world were pushing him to do.

McCain has to get back to being himself. It probably will not just to give him a chance to win, it could very well be too late for that, but more importantly he can find a way to lose with some dignity and respect.

By changing course he can finish the campaign and remind people, even like me, why we liked him in the first place.

Last night was a move in that direction.

I watched McCain on David Letterman and thought he was really good. Letterman asked him tough questions and drilled him good, but McCain was funny and likeable. He didn't dodge questions and while I don't agree with his policies or believe that Sarah Palin was his first choice,, think he did well.

Even better, instead of coming in defensive, McCain did what he should have done and admitted that he 'screwed up' by skipping out on his last appearance.

Then came the Al Smith Dinner in New York City last night.

I have to give both candidates credit,, they were hilarious. Of course depending on who you are rooting for you will say that your candidate was funnier, but in this case I can say I think they both did a great job.

Click here for McCain's speech.

Click here for Obama's speech.

As someone who has been tough on John McCain, I think he had a great day yesterday. Not a momentum changing day, but a day unlike the debates and recent rallies, made him look both likeable, real, and like he was not letting advisors 'handle him'.